Trump Travel Ban May Derail US World Cup Bid, FIFA Head Says

Currently, citizens from six nations - all majority-Muslim countries in Iran, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and Libya - are not allowed to enter the United States in Mr Trump's updated restrictions.

File this under the many unintended consequences of President Trump's polarizing travel ban: Federation Internationale de Football Association has warned that it could end up preventing the United States from hosting the World Cup in 2026.

The US last hosted the World Cup 23 years ago at World Cup USA '94, where Brazil triumphed after beating Italy on penalties in the final, courtesy of Italian sensation Roberto Baggio missing his deciding spot kick in the shootout.

Infantino avoided directly criticizing Trump, saying that the president is "in charge, together with his government, to take decisions that are best for his country".

This is not exactly a new stance; after all, the United States isn't the first country considered for a bid to have visa requirements and travel bans in place.

Infantino stated that full bid requirements would be unveiled in the near future.

"Any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access to the country, otherwise there is no World Cup", Infantino told reporters following a meeting with soccer leaders from around the globe held in London.

Infantino said in London on Thursday: 'Whether that particular case was an injustice or not, we can leave it to the judgement of the referee (Germany's Deniz Aytekin).

"The requirements will be clear", he said. And then each country can make up their decision, whether they want to bid or not based on the requirements. The impact it has on a U.S. World Cup bid could be monumental. "If players can not come because of political decisions, or populist decisions, then the World Cup can not be played there". It's general sporting criteria.

The Guardian also pointed out that Trump's policies could affect Los Angeles' bid for the 2024 Olympic Games, for which their only remaining competition is Paris. It does feel falsely self-righteous, however, given the blind eye it has turned towards human rights abuses in the run-up to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.